Welcome to the Future
by reallama
Summary: A year has passed since the destruction of the Reapers and life has a way of marching on. For Shepard, this means getting used to a relaxing way of living. However, she will soon discover that out in the galaxy there are others recovering from war. While others are used to the change, there are some not willing to embrace the future. F! Shepard Paragon/War Hero/Earthborn
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fanfiction so I would very much welcome any advice.

Just going to name that this fic has NaruSaku so don't hate too hard. Also, part of the story is centered around Shenko.

Now that we have that out of the way, I don't own anything from Naruto or Mass Effect. They belong to their creators. I do own my OC's whom you will meet!

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Welcome to the Future

Chapter 1

_If the universe were to see the return of balance and peace, there would come a time when the divines would finally act. Failure after failure made them weary and give up on the mortal plane. They grew angry and searched for a solution. After another defeat by the hands of the Old Enemy, one such divine had a plan that would lead to a crescendo of chaos, terror and strife. Yet through it all, life endured and the plan would succeed. As if the chosen ones were to have the will of a God, surely they would not fail._

The sun rose over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It was a Friday and naturally the citizens of the Village were eager for the start of the weekend. However for some, the week was only beginning. In a single apartment, a 12-year-old girl with the given name of Yume Matsuo was busy getting changed. She fumbled around with the knots in her royal blue robe and her gear that was all being particularly stubborn today. The young kunoichi stared at herself in her long mirror attached to her wall. In front of her stood a girl with hair that glowed with a warming auburn. It rolled down her back almost endlessly. Her eyes, with her odd mix of emerald and chocolate, always were looking for a missing component that eluded even the soul. To Yume, she looked as though she was deprived, a void that chipped away at her. Her newly attained headband that covered her forehead glimmered in the intruding sunlight. Her skull began to press in on her brain and she snapped out of her daydream and focused on tying the knots but her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Finally, after finishing her argument with her clothing, she was ready to embrace _her_ brave new world. Yume slipped on her dark blue sandals and rushed out, barely closing the door behind her.

Out on the street, she bobbed and weaved through the crowds of people. Yume was incredibly late for her induction and she knew that her new teammates, whoever they were, would be slightly annoyed. Thankfully, she would have an excuse for her homeroom teacher, Iruka. The neighbors had decided to invite their cousins around for dinner that lasted until about 2 in the morning. They were loud enough for her to hear every detail about their assorted lives such as how the wife of the neighbor ran into an old friend who had recently been married to a Mist chunin. Oh and how could Yume forget about the time that her neighbor accidentally ran into several people as he looked at the display of a rather deviant bookstore and he was _this_ close to hitting a telephone pole. The stories were endless. Unfortunately, this meant that the newly appointed genin could not get any rest.

After growing frustrated with the bustling streets, Yume jumped up onto the rooftops and soared above the heads of the villagers. By using this unorthodox mode of transport, she managed to reach the academy faster than she would have if she stuck to the glorified dirt paths below. She hopped down and flew into the building; almost knocking down another teacher. Finally she skidded along the floor and halted in front of the door to her classroom. Yume was certain that she was roughly ten minutes late. Slowly, she opened the sliding door that revealed her entire class who were busy talking amongst themselves. The only one who took notice of her subtle arrival was of course Iruka-sensei. He smiled in reassurance. It was a smile that was grossly overlooked. It was of a sort that made a person warm up inside as the empty heart was filled a little. Of course it was different for different people. For a person like Yume, however, she appreciated it at every turn. Being the best at ninjutsu also helped to earn much needed praise. He whispered to her.

"Don't worry, Yume just take your seat. You're only two minutes late."

"Oh really! I thought I was like ten!" she said exasperated.

"No, no." he chuckled slightly.

"Cool, thanks sensei!" she hurried to her seat and sat down, by herself.

"Okay, everybody quiet down so I can take attendance."

The room fell dead silent. Sensei began to go through the class register a very quick place, almost as if he was in a rush.

"Good, now that that's done I'm now going to place you into your teams. Since you all passed yesterday you are all officially genin and that means that you will start off being in teams accompanied by your new sensei. So the first team is…"

Iruka rattled off names from another list, when he completed a set there was a rustle of the people getting into their groups without looking at each other for a while. Yume was skeptical of her classmate's casual reactions to what was happening. Even though they would all be spending the rest of their lives with each other and create friendships through camaraderie. Yume returned to reality just in time.

"Okay next is Yume, Satoru and Ryota you guys are a three. Next is…"

Yume eyes widened in shock as she looked at her new teammates. Satoru Nakamura sat in the back of the class and was always brooding with a scowl on his face. He had black hair that covered his left eye and he never spoke to anyone except for a few close friends. All Yume really knew was that his clan was known for using genjutsu and producing sensory ninja without the being a Hyuga. Like many clan's, the secrets of their techniques are only shared within the clan itself and are all diverse. Ryota Miyagi on the other hand was quite different. He sat in the front and always gave answers to all the questions to which he was usually right, and he was always eager to spring into action. Of course led him to have hard knuckles and swift movement. For all his knowledge, he did not have an ounce of common sense, baffling Yume every time. The two boys scooted they're way over to Yume's row. She sat right next to the window and tensed up when the boys began to try and get comfortable in their new seats. Yume probably had Shizuka beat on anti-social behavior as she never talked to anyone and they never talked to her. The newly formed trio stared straight ahead with giving any glances to one another. Iruka placed the list down on the desk.

"Well that's everybody, now you guys will wait here for your new senseis' to arrive. Yes, from this day on I'm no longer your sensei."

"Awww!" everybody cried back.

"Heh, don't worry I'll still be here if you have any worries. Well that's it I think… I'll see you guys around!"

Iruka smiled again and waved as he left the classroom, shutting the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, thank you to everybody who viewed! Didn't expect that so that was a nice surprise.

Also thanks to Pric3y for commenting, advice taken on board.

I own nothing except my characters. Oh and guess who appears in this chapter...

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Chapter 2

Everybody was silent until the door was firmly closed. Then the roar of voices emerged as everybody began talking again. Ryota jumped in to break the silence in his group.

" Well, I hope our sensei is the best jonin there is 'cause I want someone can teach me awesome techniques!"

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself Ryota, you need to know basic principles first before attempting any complicated jutsu." Satoru muttered and blankly stared at an enraged Ryota.

"You think I don't know that!" He folded his arms. "Well then what kind of sensei do you want?"

"Someone who can guide us on the right path, someone with wisdom." he pondered, his eyes looked up at the ceiling and began to lose himself in his thoughts.

"Well we lost him." Ryota remarked.

"What about you Yume, what kinda of sensei do you want?" He turned to her.

Initially, Yume jumped a little in her seat. Someone who was not an adult said something to her, and a boy at that! Her brain was stuck and she scrounged around to find an answer and to get over her shock.

"Um, a mixture of both I guess?" Yume said uneasily.

'I guess I'd better get used to this.' she thought.

"Well I guess that's a good thing, humm."

He too fell silent. The genin sat uncomfortably in their seats as they waited for the impeding arrival of their sensei.

An hour passed and everybody had left except for the trio. Ryota held a grimace on his face when suddenly he burst.

"Where's our sensei!" he stood up and slammed his hands on the desk.

"Calm down, I'm sure that our sensei is very busy, being a jonin and all." Satoru retorted

"Eh, I guess you're right." Ryota frowned and sat down. At that moment the door slid open and the tap of the sandals echoed throughout the empty room. Both Ryota and Satoru gasped at the person who had just walked into the room.

"It's—uh,um…" Ryota stuttered. He grabbed Satoru's arm tight. His teammate would normally glare at him but this time he just froze in place. Yume was not any paying attention; she was looking out the window while listening to her music. She would like an idiot as everybody could see the headphones, but not chord or music player for that matter. The device was a little memento of her father. It slipped on Yume's hand and went transparent after a few seconds. She knew nothing about it other than what she used it for. The music, although foreign, was oddly comforting. Its' melodies make her escape to far away lands that seemed to teem with life. It was always nice to recede back into her space and just for a moment forget that the world existed. She preferred her dream world than the reality she faced everyday because she was the only one allowed inside it. Suddenly Ryota hit her elbow and blasted her from her dream.

"Agh, what! What'd you do…" Yume stopped talking and looked at her new sensei. It was a man, of medium height with iconic blond spiky hair and blue eyes and the all too famous whiskers. He was wearing a huge grin.

"No way. Actually wouldn't this make sense because of…I'll just be quiet—now." she muttered as she looked astonished at her new sensei. It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"Heh, sorry I'm late!" he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. He wore a regular jonin uniform, which was odd, as he was known for having everything in orange. Except this time he looked like any other Leaf shinobi. Ryota had something to say; yet nothing came out. Satoru was too busy staring to even to bother to say anything. Only Yume mustered the will to be able to speak again.

"Uh, that's… okay, um… I think?" she made a slight chuckle.

"Oh good! I suppose we should all get started hm? Follow me." he beckoned them to follow him outside. The three young nin got up and immediately followed their sensei.

The sun was high above the four nins' heads. The mid-day rush could be heard from below the roof of the academy. Naruto leaned against the rails while the three genin sat on the steps. Yume sat in the middle of the two boys and looked up to pay attention. There was something about her sensei that fascinated her. It was like she could relax and feel comfortable. It was actually starting to scare her. The jonin cleared his throat.

"Alright, from this day forward I'm your new sensei and we are a group. " he looked at each of them to see that they acknowledged what he said.

"Now-" he continued, "Since we are going to be together for a while, I would like you all to introduce yourselves. Say what you like and don't like and your dreams for the future." Naruto smiled again.

"Why?" said Ryota "We are classmates so we already know what there is to know!" he looked absolutely perplexed.

"Well I don't know you and you three look as though you don't really hang out and only know each other's names, am I right?" he frowned.

"Yeah I guess." Ryota sighed. "Well I'll go first!" He declared.

"My name Ryota, I like learning anything I can get my hands on, oh and discussing it on intellectual level. I don't like people who belittle my intelligence because I know that is just jealousy. My dream is to become a scholar of the ninja world and practice what I know." he closed his eyes and was possibly fantasizing at that very moment.

"Eh, okay." Naruto was a little bit in disbelief. "How about you?' He pointed to Satoru.

"My name is Satoru. I like being by myself and thinking, I don't like loud noises and my dream is to travel the world." He sighed.

"Riiight. Okay and you in the middle." The blond was looking straight at Yume. She gulped.

"Uh, well my name is Yume and I like listening to music, I guess, and walking, oh and eating? I don't really like being stressed or in a panic and my dream for now is... Well I don't really have one." She regretted saying that. He sensei squinted his eyes.

"Fair enough. I sure you'll find something" He shrugged his shoulders.

Yume immediately said "What about you sensei?" She wanted to avoid anyone pressing the issue further.

"Hm, well in case you didn't know I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen from Ichiraku's especially if Iruka-sensei pays. I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the boiling water into the instant ramen. Lastly, my dream..." A chuckle escaped his lips. It was one of reminiscence, sadness, hope and everything associated to his dream.

"My dream is to become Hokage!" Naruto smiled widely, but immediately drew back and looked up at the sky.

"Hm, I said those same words right here seven years ago. Weird." He scratched his head.

"Either way, I'm sensei now. But before we can officially begin I have to see if you guys are ninja material." He said with an almost devilish grin on his face.

"Tomorrow-" He began with excitement, "We will do a test to see if you really are genin. It's a physical test, so all you guys have to do is bring yourselves. But! There is one requirement... Don't eat breakfast before the test." He leaned and smirked at the shock on their faces.

"What! Sensei, that makes no sense! If it's a physical test, we will need food in our stomach to be able to release-!" Ryota cried but was interrupted by Naruto's raised hand.

"Did you ever think that it is all part of the test? I wouldn't say it for no reason." He looked as though he was slightly annoyed.

"Oh." Ryota looked a little bemused at sensei's comment, still lacking to understand the point. Yume felt sorry for him so she loudly whispered.

"Ryota, it's a survival test!"

"Mm, yes and no Yume, but you will see tomorrow. I want you all to meet me by the bridge leading to the southwest forest at 8:00 so we can begin." Naruto said. The blond stood up straight.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, so have the afternoon off!" Then he vanished. Rather he simply jumped off the roof of the building. Yume got up and looked over the rails to see the 20 year-old walking away with his hands behind his back. Yume reeled back and turned around to her teammates.

"Our sensei is Naruto Uzumaki!" She exclaimed with disbelief and excitement. Ryota grinned while Satoru nodded acceptingly. They would all have quite the adventure ahead of them, and this was only the beginning.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is kind of a late update, but here is chapter 3!

Again, I own nothing except Yume.

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Chapter 3

7:00 am chimed in the Village and Yume was already up. She eyeballed her small cabinets but resisted the urge to pull out the cereal. She kept thinking about her sensei as she dug up her pouch, which somehow made its way under bed.

'Man, I think we have a crush' whispered her conscience. Yume blushed instantly.

'No, no, no! Just star struck that's all!'

'Okay then.' her conscience muttered incredulously. Yume wasn't sure if she was neurotic or just crazy. She figured crazy, as having active discussion with her conscience was borderline crazy. Well, she had no one else, so she just made do with herself and sometimes the mirror.

For thirty minutes, she decided to clean up her room. It wasn't messy at all, but the nerves attacked and to keep her mind off of her internal panic, she occupied herself with a menial task. However, time had a way of creeping up and before she knew it, she had to leave. Before she put on her shoes, she quickly bowed her head a picture frame. It was of her mother and father holding, herself as a little baby. The picture was found in her father's possessions anyway. It was slightly crumpled and worn away but she could still make out the faces. At best, Yume looked liked her father but had her mother's hair color and eyes. On the back, there was a little note which was faded but it said something like 'Mia, Charlie and Becky, 05/12/2174'. So she came to the conclusion that her mother's name was in fact Mia or Becky, otherwise it would be really weird for her name to be Charlie. Either way, she knew what her parents looked like but that didn't make her loneliness get any better. What always confused her the most was the date. Her birthday was in fact May 12th but it was not in the year 2174. It might have been something else and the wrong year was written. There was also another mystery. She knew her father was dead but she had no idea about her mother. She was out there, somewhere, with answers to her questions. Who was she, really? What was her real name? Why did she leave? Yume continuously thought about this, although thinking about this on the street meant that she crashed into things and people. By some luck however, she managed to avoid doing that and made it to the bridge that sensei referred to. She arrived before anybody else and decided to leap and sit on the railings. Her feet swung back and forth as she lost herself in her music. The brunette's eyes were glued to the floor so she did not notice the approach of both Ryota and Satoru. Ryota's booming voice shattered the smooth tones of the music.

"You are annoying!"

"I'm simply pointing out that it is disgusting to say during dinner how the digestive system works!"

"Shut up! It is perfectly natural." Ryota threw his hands in the air. Satoru just sighed and gave up. Yume nodded at the boys and turned off the music.

"S'up guys."

"Hey, Yume. We were just arguing about intelligence." Satoru muttered. Ryota was too busy being angry to add anything else. Suddenly their sensei appeared on the bridge.

"Morning!" Naruto said with a merry tune. The genin didn't understand at the time, but the jinchruuiki was happy because he ate breakfast, this time around.

"Morning sensei." The 12 year olds all replied meekly.

"Eh! What's wrong?" Naruto asked. His question was genuine.

"We haven't eaten breakfast!" Ryota threw his arms up again in anger.

"Oh, right." Naruto said as an aside.

"Well, let's get started then shall we?" He started walking into the forest with his students rushing up behind, eager to start.

They came to a clearing in the wood. In the middle three stumps with a memorial to the fallen in the background. Naruto stopped near the middle and turned around to the confused genin.

"Alright, here is where the test is gonna take place." Naruto then reached behind into his pouch and pulled out two silver bells, both on a piece of red string.

"The objective of this test is to get the bells off of me before 12:00 to get lunch." He placed tow bento boxes on the one stump, along with a timer.

"Wait! There are only two bento boxes and two bells!" Ryota was freaking out.

"I think that's the point." Yume said.

"It means one of us won't get the bell and so that person won't get lunch." She added.

"So it's a race to get the bells?" Satoru queried.

"Yup." Naruto answered. He then went and set the timer to start.

"Alright, you guys got 4 hours. 3...2...1... Go!" He shouted. Immediately both Yume and Satoru jumped away into the trees. Only Ryota remained. He stared down his sensei. Yume giggled in the bushes. She wasn't sure from her position if he was scared or brave. Ryota pointed at sensei, with determination in his voice he shouted,

"I'm gonna face you head on and take those bells!"

"Really?" Naruto said with disbelief.

"Yes!" Ryota rushed at sensei. He threw out his fists to punch Naruto in the chest. However sensei pulled Ryota's extended arm and threw him into the lake. Ryota belly flopped straight in; the splash was enormous and most likely hurt.

"Huh, okay then." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. However, Ryota sprang up from the lake and once again he charged at the blond. Ryota tried a volley of punches. He even tried to kick his sensei in the groin. However Naruto managed to deflect all his attacks. The genin continued to thrust everything he had in a swift motion to try and confuse sensei. Unfortunately, he grew tired and couldn't summon enough energy to avoid Naruto's next attack. The genin barely had time to turn around before he heard him shout,

"A thousand years of death!"

It was a simple prod of Ryota's behind but the pain surging through Ryota was hardly simple. Finally, after what seemed like an actual thousand years, Ryota's body flew and crashed into the lake once again. Ryota sprang up and couldn't decide if to be angry or screaming, so he just bobbed up and down in the water. Yume, still in the bush, giggled even harder while Satoru sighed.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you want the bells." declared Naruto. He first frowned and shook his head before vanishing from sight. Yume decided it would be best to scout the woods and think of a plan. She thought a trap would do it, but it had to be perfect, as he would see from a mile away.

'Ambush ought to do it!' She thought all she had to do now was to find a suitable hiding place and wait.

It was about 10:00. Satoru was down for the count. He tried a simple illusion while Sensei was distracted. He did every so subtlety, so hopefully Sensei would not realize he was under a genjutsu. Satoru grossly miscalculated. A soon as he was in reach of the bells, he was slammed into the hard grass. One minute he saw a smirk arise, and the next he was gone. After lying on the ground for a while, absorbing the atmosphere, Satoru got up and began to search once again. Satoru managed to retrace his steps back to the center to find Ryota tied to the middle stump.

"What happened?" He asked wearily.

"Well, I figured that I might be able to last longer and have more energy if I ate now instead of waiting. Instead I got caught. Funny, as Sensei said he expected this to happen. No idea what he meant though." Ryota appeared to be unaware of the fact that he was tied to a stump, and was probably not getting lunch. Satoru bit his lip and sat next to Ryota and waited for 12:00 to strike.

Only Yume was left. She had stayed out of sight for the longest time to try and observe how Sensei fought. She gained absolutely zero information, but she couldn't wait any longer. She came to a tiny clearing just south of the stumps. She leaped down from the trees and scoped the area. It was a little too quiet and a rustle alerted both Yume and the birds nearby who instinctively took flight. Yume stood her ground as Sensei revealed himself. It was probably a clone, but nevertheless Yume charged at him. Instinctively, he dodged her attack sending the young girl head first into the tree behind him. Yume's own clone, who was hiding in the trees, then lunged at Naruto. In turn he sliced at the clone, which made it vanish. Yume grinned.

'Hehe, Everything is going according to plan.' She cackled, internally. She managed to get up and do her hand signs while the smoke of the clone disappearing distracted Sensei. She felt her chakra rushing to her hand after the last hand sign.

"Water style: Water Whip!" She shouted. Water shot out of her arm and wrapped itself around sensei's right arm. Yume ran towards Naruto to claim one of the bells, but he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'So it was a clone. Dang it!' Yume scowled.

"Well done!" Yume turned around to find the blond above her, smiling. He even gave a little clap.

"To any other person, that would have worked, and you know water style jutsu. Impressive. I really like to find out how you can do water style, y'know." He added.

"Man!" Yume cried. She was so close, but she failed to take into account that sensei was an expert at tricking people.

'Maybe I'll take him on in hand-to hand. That might work!' She thought. It was a last attempt. Yume took out a kunai and jumped up to try and cut the bells off. Unfortunately, Naruto leaped down onto the ground below. Yume followed and was met with a clash of kunai. Both her and sensei were in a lock. She tried to push against him, but was overpowered. She leaped back and charged back in with her fists. Naruto caught the hand but was surprised as Yume swung underneath his legs and tried to grab the bell. Her fingers brushed against them causing them to jingle. Naruto himself leaped up to evade Yume's hand. He also let go of her hand. He slid back far away from the girl. The leaves danced around them as the howl of wind shook the trees. Yume knew something bad was going to happen to her as she saw sensei shift himself into a different position, like he was getting serious. She didn't even see him but only saw a little flash of yellow. Next thing she knew, Yume was kneeling over in pain. Naruto was standing over her when she realized she had been punched in the gut. The brunette keeled over and everything went black.

'Hey, I actually did well in that scuffle, when you think about it.'

'Especially since we can't fight.'

'Hey that's not true!'

'You know he wasn't even trying, and you were still overpowered! Come on, wake up.'

When Yume jolted up, she heard the alarm clock wailing. So she punched the dirt as she failed. Slowly, she got up and walked back to the center in shame. There she found Ryota looking pathetic and Satoru simply resting his head against one of the stumps. Sensei was standing in the middle again. He looked annoyed and disappointed. Yume sat on Ryota's left side and awaited the incoming lecture.

"Well, it's 12:00 and none of you got the bells and Ryota's tied up 'cause he tried to eat lunch." He shook his head.

"Anyway, normally if you fail the test I have to send you guys back to the academy."

"What no!" The three genin shouted.

"Hold on! Let me finish. Sheeh." Sensei once again sighed.

"I'm gonna let you guys try again after lunch. But, there is one condition!"

"What?" The young nin queried.

"Only Yume and Satoru can have lunch and you can't give any to Ryota because he broke the rules. If any of you break these new rules, you will all fail." He leaned in menacingly with a grin on his face.

"Enjoy your lunch, but remember, my word goes. All right?"

"Yes Sensei." The trio replied. Naruto walked off towards the village and then disappeared. Ryota's stomach growled as the other two opened their bento boxes.

"I feel bad." Yume sighed.

"I admit I feel bad too." Satoru commented.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine. My body will survive for long enough of the stored nutrition's in body." Ryota smiled, but his stomach was not agreeing with him on biology.

"Eh, maybe I'm not fine." Ryota muttered.

"Guys, this is stupid! So what if Sensei said we can't give Ryota anything, it's not like he's here!" Yume pointed to the empty field.

"Yeah, you're right. Forget what Sensei said." Satoru nodded.

"Alright then it's settled, Ryota have some." Yume lifted up her bento box so the he could eat the rice.

"Thanks Yume." Ryota smiled meekly as he took a bite and everybody grinned.

Their smiled were immediately wiped off their faces. Naruto appeared before them with his nine tails out. His eyes were red. He snarled. The genin were terrified.

"You three!" He growled, literally. Suddenly the tails and the red eyes retreated.

"You pass!" He smiled sweetly. The children were barely able to recover from their fear.

"W-what?" they muttered feebly.

"Yup, you guys passed the test."

"But none of us got the bells!" Yume exclaimed

"The bells were only part of the test."

"Then what was the other part?" Satoru asked.

"Think of the bells as, um, your mission. You all were told that only two of you were going to the bells. So you thought the best thing to do was split up. Of course that ended up will you guys failing and Ryota tied to the stump." Ryota gave a little laugh.

"But had you teamed up in the beginning, it might have been easier, might of." He thought for moment and shook it off.

"At the end, you guys did team up and help Ryota, even though I told you not to. That's what I was testing." He said with a serious face.

"I'm confused. You're testing our ability to break the rules?" Ryota tilted his head. His teammates both furrowed their brows in confusion too.

"Hm." Naruto gave a little chuckle.

"Well, sorta. In our world, if you break the rules you're scum. But I you abandon even one of your friends, you're worse than scum." The genin looked at each other and realized what he meant.

"I get it! You wanted to see if we would protect each other." Yume clicked her fingers.

"Yup. That, for me, is what makes you strong and a team, your friends." He paused and smiled.

"So now, since you guys are permanently genin, it's time we go celebrate and have a proper lunch."

"Whoo!" Ryota cried.

"Alright let's go!" Sensei started to walk away and Satoru followed.

"Huh, I think he forgot about you Ryota." Yume began to cut the rope.

"Well you didn't!" He grinned.

"Don't push it." Yume retorted angrily and they both ran and caught up with the rest of the team.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Finally reached the crossover bit...

Anyway, I still own nothing and now on with the chapter...

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Chapter 4

Light-years away from the ninja world, there rests another planet with it's own constants and variables. A huge constant is that this planet houses the human home world. In a huge metropolis called New York, there lives a 32 year-old woman filled with juvenile wonder. She lives in her tiny apartment in the area called Brooklyn, by herself. The woman, who went by the name of Mia Anderson, was getting dressed to go outside to meet her childhood friend. Even though it was the middle of the day it was still a Saturday and so Mia could afford to have a lie in. Her golden brown hair shined as the light from the sun danced on her strands if hair. She wore unremarkable clothes except for a jacket with fur lining because it was March and the bite of winter still remained. Before leaving, she fumbled around with her omni-tool and placed a call. On the visual screen appeared her friend. Her black hair looked like a mop that had been slapped on her head. Bags appeared under her bright blue eyes. She had a permanent frown on her face. There was a wail in the background.

"Heya, Amaya. I'm just calling to say I'm leaving and I'll be right over."

"Mmhm, okay see ya just..." The wail mutated into a screech.

"Aah, just one second! Sorry I gotta go, Kat is acting up again." Amaya sighed.

"Yeah I hear, well I will see you later, bye!"

"Bye." Her friend replied meekly. She disappeared off the screen. By now she was probably babbling in French to her 1-year-old child, Katherine. Mia giggled as she slipped on her boots and left the apartment. To a stranger, Amaya was a god, in a sense. Nobody was unaware of her. Rather, they knew Shepard, not Amaya. Amaya still retained the authoritative traits, but was a little more laid back and less crazy? Oh who was she kidding, her friend was the same person, and just maybe she was more open to her hobbies. Mia felt superior to personally know the person who defeated the Reapers, and saw how motherhood really got to her. The door shut automatically with a little hiss.

On the street, Mia made her way to the subway to travel across town. Amaya lived all the way on the West Side, so at least she didn't have to change trains. Mia managed to get a train and secure a seat, which was one of those seats the faced the direction the train was going. She put her feet on the seat and scrunched up like a ball. She admired the view out the window as the train went over ground. The skyline was beautiful, in all shapes and forms. The pearly white towers shone in the sun with the cars zooming by like sprinkles or little moons surrounding a planet. Then there were the older buildings, which have the scene its age and poise. The brunette laid her head against the dirty glass and felt a little bit of heat on her hair. Today was a depressing day and she always needed comfort. The train flew under the tunnel and with it Mia sighed in despair. It was going to be a long day.

After dodging a gazillion people and managing to get to the right building, Mia was able to chill and relax as she slumped against the elevator wall while it was in motion. Suddenly it stopped, which made Mia stumble a bit. The doors slid open to reveal a calm floor with a hint of lavender in the air. She got out and walked down the hall to the last apartment. There was a wail; followed by a scream. It was just the baby complaining as there was no movement from inside. It was sort of cute however the sound was unbearable. Mia rung the doorbell and heard the scuffle of feet. The baby's babbling got closer and closer when all of a sudden the door hissed open. Amaya looked even more tired in the flesh, with a hint of annoyance. Mia always went back to the time when her friend found out she was going to be a mother. She always figured in that second, Shepard vanished and the regular old Amaya took over. Her friend stepped aside.

"Come in." She said, trying to muster a smile.

"Thank you." Mia looked around the room. The kitchen was to the left with counter tops for the barrier. To the right was the reception room and straight ahead were all the bedrooms and study.

"Wanna drink?"

"Hell yeah! I'm getting drunk today." Mia sat down on the couch. It faced the TV, which was parallel to the window. The apartment was pretty high up so occasionally a car would whoosh on by.

"Don't get carried away now I only have so much!" Amaya disappeared behind the counters and brought up two glasses and a variety of drinks.

"Okay so we got wine, some weird beer, I think this is ryncol-." She scrutinized the bottle. "We also have some things that you might be able to make a cocktail with, if you want to." She pointed to everything she laid out on the glass coffee table.

"Sweet alright now lets watch some old vids!" Mia said with enthusiasm.

"Well I got bucket loads soo which one?"

"Whichever's the first one, all are good." Amaya came over with some chilled beer and picked up a vid at random. She pressed the button and it was displayed on her TV, gave a bottle to Mia, opened them, clinked the glasses together and so the drinking began.

Hours later Mia was resting her head on Amaya's lap. Her head felt weightless but she could feel the tears streaming down her face.

"This is when he proposed y'know?"

"Yeah."

"I was so happy. Baby on the way and my boyfriend proposed. At 20!"

"Yeah."

"I mean I knew I met the one!"

"Yeah."

"Even though I was at college, nobody gave a shit 'cause I trash anyway so I was normal but I was ready and so was he and-"

"Yeah."

Mia looked over and the sleeping pile of mess in the bassinette. Katherine was sleeping peacefully and cooing ever so slightly as she shifted.

"Amaya, promise me to never let her go!" The brunette grabbed hold of her friend by her shoulders and shook her but slowly let go.

"Oh I promise, after everything I've been through..." Amaya reached over petted her daughter's head.

"I wish my daughter was still here. I always imagine that she's alive on some planet somewhere, looking up at the stars and wondering where I am. I have this feeling she's alive, but I know its wishful thinking."

"If you feel she's alive, then she is. Nothing is more powerful than a mother intuition." Amaya muttered.

"Yeah." Mia replied "Yeah."

Yume sneezed suddenly. Ryota looked over in a panic.

"Yume are you ill? You didn't land in the lake but still!"

"I think someone's talking about you." Satoru smirked.

"Yeah, yeah." The girl frowned. The team was at Ichiraku ramen, sinking their teeth into the delicious ramen. Naruto-sensei was already on his fifth bowl and slurping away happily. Satoru only had the stomach for one and decided to sit and contemplate something. Yume was eating her second bowl enjoyed every morsel. The spicy broth was complemented beautifully with the soft noodles and along with the mash up of other items such as the seaweed or the pak choi it tasted divine. Naruto let out a long sigh of content.

"That was good." Yume said murmured. It wasn't everyday that she could treat herself to the best ramen in the village.

"You can have more y'know it's all on me." Naruto added.

"Nah, it's cool and I'm pretty full already." The girl smiled.

"Hm alright, you guys done?" The other two nodded.

"Cool, lay it on me old man, how much is it?" Teuchi ripped off a piece of paper and turned around to give him the check.

"I knocked off a few ryo 'cause you're here with your new students!" he whispered.

"Hey thanks!" Naruto left the shiny pieces on top of the paper and left a little tip. He turned to his students.

"Well, last thing we have to do is a group photo." He got up and the genin were quickly walking behind him.

In a park nearby, a photographer had set his equipment to take photos. He had one job to do, but it was taking forever. He kept wondering what was taking the ninja so damn long. He just wanted to be home, feet up with some beer. He was snapped out of his daydream when he heard footsteps approaching.

"You guys next?" He said with a little annoyance.

"Yep." Naruto said.

"Alright, stand over by the tree so I can take the photo."

The team scuffled to the tree opposite the camera. Ryota was trying to flex his non-existent muscles, while Satoru rolled his eyes and leaned on the tree, he even made a little huff. Ryota started to stare at him intently and was holding back from speaking. The other did the same and they stood apart from each other with Yume in the middle. She was smiling and ignoring everything, waiting for the photo to be taken. The boys were almost ready to erupt into another argument when Naruto finally walked into the frame and placed his hands on both Ryota and Satoru's heads. They both were still eyeing each other but managed to attempt to look at the camera in time. Yume giggled and folded her arms when the shot was taken. The photographer waved a hand to Naruto-sensei. He sauntered over to see the photo. Out came a familiar picture of two boys frowning, the girl in the middle smiling and laughing and the sensei smiling too with his eyes closed.

"I can get this printed by Wednesday alright. How many do you want?"

"Uh 4 pictures."

"Alright can do." The photographer walked away from the group, shaking his head a little.

"Sensei! What does it look like?" Ryota cried.

"It looks great." His grin was one of reminiscence.

"Anyway guys that us it for now and I will see you on Monday." He leaned in.

"And we're gonna start with missions so I hope you're ready!" He said enthusiastically.

"See you guys later." And with that, he left. The three shinobi agreed to spend a little more time with each other. It was awkward and hilarious at the same time. The boys were constantly trying to one up another and Yume simply watched and laughed. However, she hardly spoke and gave short and simple answers to questions. It was hard for her to speak to them. Not that she had a problem talking. Just that she was afraid of what they would think. All she wanted was to run away back to her apartment and bury her head in her pillow. Of course, after the genin said goodbye to one another just before dinner; she ran home and did exactly that. Yume sunk into the bed and looked up at her ceiling.

'Ugh, that was awkward. Thank goodness I home and I can relax and not worry about anything.' She winced slightly.

'Wasn't that bad.' Her conscience whispered. Yume didn't listen. She believed that everything was better in her apartment instead of out in the world.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the village, the rest of the team was with their friends or family. Naruto was sitting comfortably at a long table in Barbe-Q along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. He was swirling the sake around in his cup and looking at the rice wine make little ripple patterns.

"Well?" Sakura lowered her head to try and make eye contact with him.

"Hm? Oh right, yeah it went well."

"That's it?" Sasuke said disbelieving.

"They passed and we are gonna go on missions and I have high hopes for them. What else?"

"What do you mean by that?" the Uchiha continued.

"I mean that they will become great jonin one day. They are all talented in their disciplines and it's perfectly balanced, y'know" He smiled and at the thought.

"Well you'd better not do anything reckless with them." Sakura glared at him. Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, yeah that would be bad."

"Hm, knowing you, you'll find something earth shattering to get involved in." Sasuke folded his arms and smirked. The other two looked at each other and laughed. It was good to be able to laugh about the past.

Satoru sat in his room, frowning. His father was annoying him and his mother wasn't any help. He returned home to both his parents talking and not letting up.

"You'll be the head of the clan one day." His father kept repeating. Satoru wanted for him to stop telling him that. He got it, but he didn't want to hear it. Satoru sighed and looked out the window onto the village.

"Now then, let's see…" He said aloud. He then scribbled down some words and did so until he fell asleep.

Ryota talked to his mother for the entirety of dinner. She listened intently and kept asking him questions. She was so proud of her son that she cried when finished.

"That's my boy." She whimpered. Ryota hugged her mother. He was the man of the house after all.

Yume had just finished up her instant ramen. She stared at the empty cup and couldn't take her eyes off of it. She wasn't sure if she was scared or angered by the prospect of the future. Deciding that it was too much to think about, Yume once again lay down on her bed and fell asleep. All she could dream about were glistening lights and pearly white buildings.


End file.
